Trip to Northwich / Nantwich 31-08-2013

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
2612	Northwich Interchange	Crewe BS	37	Arriva NW&W
2617	Crewe BS	Nantwich BS	84	Arriva NW&W
SL15	Nantwich BS	Bishop Wood	51	GHA
SL15	Bishop Wood	Nantwich BS	51	GHA
SL07	Nantwich BS‎	Crewe BS	K39	GHA

Today we decided to go on a shorter trip as mum had a night out planned. I gave Matthew the choice of going to Leek to cover the Clowes Coaches #108 and #234, or to go Northwich to try and get some of the more recent ALX400 DAF arrivals at Arriva. Matthew chose Northwich. We didn't do any research for this trip other than to check the weather which was for sunny intervals. In hindsight we should have done some as will be revealed Matthew got up around 10:00 and had toast and orange juice for breakfast. We set off around 12:00 today, heading onto the A5035 and then onto Stanley Matthews Way. We headed onto the Westbound A50 and then onto the Northbound A500. There was a short delay on the A500 due to a crash near Talke which must have only just happened. At the end of the A500 just before we got onto the Northbound M6 we saw Z Carz BV51 BNO going South. We got onto the M6 and went one junction up to the A534. I decided to drive through Sandbach up to Middlewich to try and see some of the the #37 turns as we traveled North. In Sandbach itself we saw Arriva NW&W 2616 going towards Crewe. On the edge of town we passed Arriva NW&W Cadet 2497 going the other way. We carried on North up the A533 into Middlewich, where we stopped at the country Kitchen for dinner. Matthew had a bacon and egg bap washed down with a bottle of Coke. Whilst we ate we saw required Arriva NW&W 2618 heading North. We then carried on into Northwich parking up around 13:20. We walked down to the interchange and there were 3 buses on stand. Dud Arriva NW&W 2516 was on the #1 service, required Arriva NW&W 2502 was on the #29A circular and dud 2612 was on the #37 to Crewe. Matthew went to use the toilet and then we made a decision. As we hadn't seen any double deckers on the 5 #37 turns we had seen so far, that there probably weren't any out on the #37 so we would head to Crewe to see if there were any double deckers on the #84's. Matthew got a picture of Arriva NW&W 2612 and then we got on it.

Arriva NW&W 2612 in Northwich Interchange

We sat down somewhere in the middle on the drivers side. The bus was about 1/3 full. As we left Northwich we saw Arriva Dart 866 and 867 on the #2 and #4 service. This was our second run on Arriva NW&W Centro. The first run had been back in June on the short run into Northwich from the iron bridge. We headed South through Davenham and Moulton and through Wharton. At Wharton we saw Arriva NW&W 2497 on the #37 having crew change. We carried on South to Middlewich and then towards Sandbach. We passed Arriva NW&W 2503 on the A533 between Middlewich and Elworth. As we headed towards Sandbach the bus had emptied and we were the only ones on the bus. We arrived in Sandbach around 14:35 and the bus took on a few more passengers. We left towards Wheelock passing the remaining #37 turn which was dud Arriva NW&W 2610. We went through Haslington passing Arriva NW&W 4490 on the #38 to Macclesfield. We passed the railway station. and headed towards town passing required Arriva NW&W 4143 on the #84 to Chester. When we got into Crewe Matthew waited for the bus to empty before getting a picture inside.

Inside Arriva NW&W 2612

There was a few inutes befre the next #84 turn, which appeared to be dud Arriva NW&W 2617. Also parked up in the bus station was dud Arriva NW&W 4156 on layover.

Arriva NW&W 4156 in Crewe bus station

A few minutes later Arriva NW&W pulled onto stand and Matthew got a picture of it.

Arriva NW&W 2617 in Crewe bus station

We got on and sat down near the back. The last time we got on this bus was back in December 2012 on a #29A circular. The bus headed out of town and onto Nantwich Road. It was a while before we passed the first Northbound #84 and it was required Arriva NW&W 4017. Very close behind was dud Arriva NW&W 4096. Just before we reached Nantwich we passed another DAF, required Arriva NW&W 4078. when we got to Nantwich we waited for the bus to empty before getting a picture inside.

Inside Arriva NW&W 2617

When we got to nantwich we decided to visit the toilet and the market. As we approached the toilet we noticed this Routemaster being used as a mobile shop. After using the toilet we got a picture of this bus.

RM1590 in Nantwich Market

We had a few Mint Toffees from a market stall and then walked back to the bus station. We were waiting to see the next Chester and Crewe buses on the #84, and whist we waited we took a few pictures. GHA Solo SL07 was parked up n the bus station in between turns.

GHA SL07 in Nantwich bus station

Dud GHA SL17 was parked up with Explorica Tours on its display. GHA SL15 was working the Nantwich town circular services.

GHA SL15 in Nantwich bus station

When the next Chester service came in and it was dud Arriva NW&W 4156 Matthew decided he wanted to do something different. GHA SL15 arrived off one of the town circulars and we got on it leaving uncle Dave behind. We sat down and off we went. The buses crossed the railway a couple of times and went around the housing estates to the South of the railway line. A short time later we headed back into the town centre. We saw dud Arriva NW&W 4042 on a Crewe service. When we got back to the bus station matthew photographed the inside of the now empty GHA SL15.

Inside GHA SL15

When we got off SL15 he ran straight onto SL07. We caught up with him after we got on and got a picture inside the empty SL07.

Inside GHA SL07

Uncle Dave joined us and we saw it was on the K39 service to Crewe so we decided to do this. We sat down and the bus set off. We called mum to ask her to meet us at Crewe. The bus headed out of town on the A51 and then we went around a big housing estate off Peter Destapleigh Way. We got back on the A51 and then we headed through Walgherton & Wybunbury. We then went through Hough and Shavington and then crossed the A500. We wound our way from Rope Lane to Gresty Road through the houses and then we crossed straight over Nantwich road going into town via Tesco. When we arrived into Crewe bus station Matthew got a picture of GHA SL07 on stand.

GHA SL07 in Crewe bus station

We decided to spend 5 minutes taking pictures in and around the bus station before we returned to the car. First thing photographed was dud Arriva NW&W 876.

Arriva NW&W 876 in Crewe bus station

Then we got a picture of dud Arriva NW&W 4489 which had just arrived into the bus station on a #84 from Chester.

Arriva NW&W 4489 in Crewe bus station

The next #84 short to Nantwich was required Arriva 4078 which we could have done up if we had waited for it.

Arriva NW&W 4078 in Crewe bus station

We walked out of the bus station towards the car on the Delamere Street car park. As we crossed the road we saw D&G 5 was about to leave on a #8A service so Matthew got a picture.

D&G 5 in Crewe bus station

We turned to see D&G 3 on a #1 service too.

D&G 3 near Crewe bus station

We got in the car and Matthew had his Greggs sausage roll. He also had a burger which supposed to be mums tea and a few f her fries. This was washed down with the Coke from the MacDonalds meal. We set off ut of town and onto the Nantwich Road. We went passed the railway station and onto the A5020 passed Crewe Hall and onto the Southbound A500. We did this past the M6 and down to the A50 which we did to Longton. At Z Carz today were the following. The Mercedes minibus which we had seen earlier BV51 BNO.

Z Carz BV51 BNO in Longton

Newest coach ALZ 8539 was also there.

Z Carz ALZ 8539 in Longton

We also saw Mercedes minibus M372 NWN.

Z Carz M372 NWN in Longton

Next we saw decal-less DAF minicoach W344 WNS.

Z Carz W344 WNS in Longton

Lastly n the spare ground was W221 CDN.

Z Carz W221 CDN in Longton

In the Willow Row compound parked at the back was LDV minibus T408 JUX. We carried on hoe heading down Longton Hall Road passing First Potteries Dart 40144 n the #22 to Longton. We got home just after 18:00. Mum went out and we had a late tea of bangers and mash followed by cheesecake. Matthew then chilled out on his computer until bedtime around 00:30...Mark

Trip to Northwich 26-01-2013

Bus	From	To	Service	Operator
876	Northwich Interchange	Northwich, Iron Bridge (SW-bound)	1	Arriva NW&W
7628	Northwich, Iron Bridge (NE-bound)	Northwich Interchange	1	Arriva NW&W
2497	Northwich Interchange	Leftwich, opp Shops	29A	Arriva NW&W
2497	Leftwich, opp Shops	Northwich Interchange	29A	Arriva NW&W
2616	Northwich Interchange	Leftwich, opp Shops	29A	Arriva NW&W
2616	Leftwich, opp Shops	Northwich Interchange	29A	Arriva NW&W
4156	Northwich Interchange	Leftwich, opp Shops	29A	Arriva NW&W
4156	Leftwich, opp Shops	Northwich Interchange	29A	Arriva NW&W
3349	Northwich Interchange	Leftwich, opp Shops	29A	Arriva NW&W
3349	Leftwich, opp Shops	Northwich Interchange	29A	Arriva NW&W
869	Northwich, opp Tesco	Barnton, Broomsfield Lane (cnr)	4	Arriva NW&W
869	Barnton, Broomsfield Lane (cnr)	Northwich Interchange	4	Arriva NW&W

Today we decided to go to Northwich. No research was done other than to check the weather and it was to be a tropical 6' C and sunny! Matthew got up around 09:30 and had toast and juice for breakfast. We set off a little earlier today at 11:45 to try and avoid some of the football traffic. That had been heavy snow the night before so driving was a little tricky on the side streets. We got on the A5035 and headed down to the A34. We did this West to the A500 and we did this North. As we headed up past the Britannia Stadium we passed Wardle Transport 4547 & 4898 and a Stanways coach on football specials. We got on the M6 and we took it steady up to the A54. As we headed North we were passed by Selwyn's SEL 133 and expat explorer YJ11 ANX. when we reached the A54 we did this into Middlewich where we stopped at The Country Kitchen. We were hoping the New Morrison's was going to be open, but it doesn't open until Monday. So we had dinner at the food van with a promise to re-visit Middle sometime in the near future! Whilst we ate our Dnner we saw 2 Northbound #37's Arriva NW&W was the first one, and this was followed by 2497 30 minutes later. We caried on to Northwich along the A533 and we reached there a little before 13:30. We parked up at the car park adjacent to Watling Street Northwich and walked back to the interchange. The #37 and the #29A were both Centro's so we scratched our heads for a few minutes wondering what to do. First we visited the toilet by the markets. We then saw required Arriva NW&W 876 on the #1 so we decided to do this up to the bridge. Matthew got a picture of this fine bus before we got on it.

Arriva NW&W 876 in Northwich

We got on the bus and booked Arriva Daysavers before we sat down near the back. The journey out was quite pleasant in the sunshine and we arrived at the bridge in no time. We got off and Matthew got another picture of this bus as it powered away into the distance.

Arriva NW&W 876 by the Iron Bridge

We crossed the rod to wait for the other #1 turn. we only had to wait a couple of minutes and we saw a Marshall Dart approaching. As t is now the only one at Winsford we knew it was Arriva NW&W 7628.

Arriva NW&W 7628 by the Iron Bridge

We on got on this bus and it was nearly empty. we sat near the back and enjoyed the journey back into town on what is currently Winsford's finest Dart. When we got back the bus emptied out and Matthew got his empty bus picture.

Inside Arriva NW&W 7628

When we got off this time we saw Arriva NW&W 2497, which had caught us up and was now about to work the next #29A. I asked Matthew if he wanted to do this required cadet and he said yes. He got a picture of this bus and then we got on it.

Arriva NW&W 2497 in Northwich

As the bus was nearly empty, Matthew got a picture of the inside of the bus as he got on.

Inside Arriva NW&W 2497

We set off to the Leftwich estate on this bus. The melted snow had caused flash flooding in some parts and there was a gigantic puddle near the entrance of the estate on Old Hall Road. The bus went through the puddle and it caused a tidal wave. The bus went down to the shops and waited for a few minutes before returning, and back through the puddle as we have to go on the opposite side of the road to go around the parked cars. Before we knew it we were back in Northwich. We got back and the only choice was to do the next #29A which was required Arriva NW&W 2616. We waited for the driver to ready the bus for service and whilst we waited we saw Tomlinson's Mercedes minibus Y556 KSC run past out of service. A few minutes later 2616 was ready. Matthew got a picture of this bus.

Arriva NW&W 2616 in Northwich

Once again the bus was nearly empty as we got on. I think the weather must have been keeping people indoors today.

Inside Arriva NW&W 2616

We set off around to Leftwich again. Back down London Road and back through the gigantic puddle. back to the shops and then back into Northwich. This time as we approached we saw a double decker heading North onto town. As we entered Watling Street we saw 2 double deckers! Arriva 3334 was on the #31A and we assumed Arriva 4156 must be on the next #29A. The stand that we would usually go onto was blocked and so we parked up at stand B or C. As we walked back down to the double deckers we saw Network Warrington 63 and Matthew got a picture of it.

Network Warrington 63 in Northwich

Arriva 3334 set off before we got to it and that left 4156. There was also 2615 which was also displaying 37. We had noticed Arriva MPD Dart 866 was on stand every time we returned to Northwich. What appears to have happened is that 866 must have failed. It was decided to put a Centro of the #37 on the #2/4 diagram and this was taken over on #37/29A by 4156 which had run up empty from Winsford. We decided to do 4156 rather than anything else that was about at this time. i got a picture of this bus before we got on it.

Arriva NW&W 4156 in Northwich (Mark)

The top deck was empty and so Matthew got his empty bus picture.

Inside Arriva NW&W 4156

Whilst were waiting for time the #289 Altricham service arrived with GHA T789 KNW. Matthew got a picture of it out of the front window of Arriva 4156.

GHA T789 KNW in Northwich

At 15:00 we set of back to Leftwich. Back down london Road and back through the big puddle on Old Hall Road. We stopped at the shops and the bus had to move back to let a car through as someone had parked a car opposite the bus stop with almost as if they had stolen it! We set off back North into Northwich. As we passed he museum a Victorian gent doughed his bowler hat as we passed by. We arrived back and we didn't know what we were going to do next. The #31 was a Centro and then the next #29A mae an appearance. It was required step-entranced Arriva NW&W 3349. I knew this was the bus that we were going to to do next even though it meant a 4th spin around the leftwich estate! This is a bus we have only seen work once before back in March 2012 when we passed it whilst doing 4156 to Middlewich. We waited for the bus to be readied for service and we took a picture before getting on this fine beast.

Arriva NW&W 3349 in Northwich

Once again the top deck was empty and so he got his empty bus picture.

Inside Arriva NW&W 3349

We set off down London Road again and through the puddle on Old Hall Road. We stopped at the shops and this time the car that had been parked like an abandoned vehicle had been moved. We then set off back to Northwich. We decided that the next trip would be the last of the day but we didn't know what we were going to do. We could do 3349 to Sandbach, do the Next warrington bus to the railway station or hopefully not the #29A was going to be required and useful. We got back and we saw that the next #29A was 2614. A required bus, but Matthew didn't want to do it today pass. The Network Warrington bus on the #45 was required 74 but he didn't fancy that either.

Network Warrington 74 in Northwich

We asked him if he wanted to do 3349 to sandbach and he didn't. We walked up and down the stands and he also visited the toilet. He eventually chose to do dud Arriva 869 on the #4. It was a good choice as we had never been on a #4 before and we got to see another part of Northwich.

Arriva NW&W 869 in Northwich

We got on and we sat at the back. we set off North out of town and past the hospital. we then crossed over a railway line and canal before climbing up into Barnton. We whizzed around the Barnton estate before returning to the main road and back down the hill. We passed the canal and the Chemical Work and went back down past the hospital and into town. back at the interchange, Matthew got his empty bus picture.

Inside Arriva NW&W 869

Mum was waiting for us and we took a couple more bus pictures before returning to the car. We ate a sausage roll and a small egg custard before heading out of town. We went east along the A559 until we met up with the A556. It was now going dark. We did this to the M6 and then South 14 or so miles to the A500. Today we went back down the A34 through Newcastle. As we passed the garage most of the bus were too far back to identify, but we did see an unidentified Marshall Dart. We presume this must be one of Adderley Green's old buses here for component retrieval. We then headed out of Newcastle along George Street and onto Shelton New Road. We joined the southbound A500 and did the A50 to Longton. At Z carz tonight we saw the following... Coach V690 EBC.

Z Carz V690 EBC in Longton

We then saw LDV minibus T408 JUX...

Z Carz T408 JUX in Longton

then we saw DAF coach W344 WNS...

Z Carz W344 WNS in Longton

next we saw another LDV minibus DS51 ZJU.

Z Carz DS51 ZJU in Longton

We the Willow Row pen and that was empty, so we turned in the Road before heading down Longton Hall Road. We stopped at the one stop shop and we brought some pop and a chocolate bar and some lottery tickets before getting home around 17:45. We chilled out at home before having a late tea of bangers and mash with cake. Matthew went to bed just before midnight...Mark